1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an MAC address (Media Access Control address) management apparatus, MAC address management system, MAC address management method, and storage medium and, more particularly, to an MAC management apparatus and MAC address management system for assigning an MAC address serving as an identification number unique to a network interface device, to the network interface device for connecting various peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, copying machine, FAX, and scanner) to a computer network, MAC address management method applied to the MAC address management apparatus, and storage medium storing a program for executing the MAC address management method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In manufacturing a network interface device, an MAC address serving as an identification number unique to the device is conventionally assigned to it. More specifically, MAC address information is supplied from a database server for managing MAC addresses to a network interface device having undergone product inspection via a network or manufacturing interface port, and written in the ROM of the network interface device. Upon completion of the write, the database server deletes the supplied MAC address from the storage medium of the database server in order to prevent double use of the MAC address by another device.
However, the conventional MAC address assignment management method suffers the following problems.
Since the MAC address is a number unique to a device and must not be doubly used by another device, assignment of the MAC address must be strictly managed. As one management method, a backup of a file storing the MAC address is inhibited to avoid double use of the MAC address. However, when the backup is inhibited, and the file storing the MAC address is damaged due to any reason to disable any read, all MAC addresses stored in the file cannot be used.
In this case, if not all but even some MAC addresses are to be used, a great deal of labor is spent for verification of MAC addresses which have already been used by manufactured network interface devices, and recovery of the file storing MAC addresses.
The present invention has been made to overcome the conventional drawbacks, and has as its object to provide an MAC address management apparatus, MAC address management system, and MAC address management method, and storage medium capable of safely and reliably assigning an MAC address to a network interface device.
To achieve the above object, an MAC address management apparatus defined in claim 1 for assigning an MAC address serving as an identification number unique to a network interface device to the network interface device to be connected to a network, comprises MAC address storage means for storing an MAC address file storing a plurality of MAC addresses and a temporary MAC address file, transmission means for reading out one MAC address from the MAC address file and transmitting the MAC address to the network interface device in assigning an MAC address to the network interface device, reception means for receiving an MAC address write completion notification from the network interface device, rewrite means for rewriting, in the temporary MAC address file, MAC addresses of the MAC address file except for the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device upon reception of the MAC address write completion notification, and delete means for deleting the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device from the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, the MAC address management apparatus defined in claim 2 is the MAC address management apparatus defined in claim 1, and further comprises copy means for copying data stored in the temporary MAC address file to the MAC address file when an abnormality is determined to occur in the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, an MAC address management apparatus defined in claim 3 for assigning an MAC address serving as an identification number unique to a network interface device to the network interface device to be connected to a network, comprises MAC address storage means for storing an MAC address file storing a plurality of MAC addresses, external storage means for storing a temporary MAC address file in an external storage device connected to the MAC address management apparatus, transmission means for reading out one MAC address from the MAC address file and transmitting the MAC address to the network interface device in assigning an MAC address to the network interface device, reception means for receiving an MAC address write completion notification from the network interface device, rewrite means for controlling to rewrite, in the temporary MAC address file of the external storage device, MAC addresses of the MAC address file except for the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device upon reception of the MAC address write completion notification, and delete means for deleting the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device from the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, the MAC address management apparatus defined in claim 4 is the MAC address management apparatus defined in claim 3, and further comprises copy means for copying data stored in the temporary MAC address file of the external storage device to the MAC address file when an abnormality is determined to occur in the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, an MAC address management system defined in claim 5 comprises a network interface device to be connected to a network, and an MAC address management apparatus for assigning an MAC address serving as an identification number unique to the network interface device,
the MAC address management apparatus having MAC address storage means for storing an MAC address file storing a plurality of MAC addresses and a temporary MAC address file, transmission means for reading out one MAC address from the MAC address file and transmitting the MAC address to the network interface device in assigning an MAC address to the network interface device, reception means for receiving an MAC address write completion notification from the network interface device, rewrite means for rewriting, in the temporary MAC address file, MAC addresses of the MAC address file except for the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device upon reception of the MAC address write completion notification, and delete means for deleting the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device from the MAC address file, and
the network interface device having MAC address reception means for receiving the assigned MAC address from the MAC address management apparatus, write/storage means for writing and storing the MAC address, and write completion notification transmission means for transmitting the MAC address write completion notification upon completion of a write of the MAC address.
To achieve the above object, an MAC address management system defined in claim 6 comprises a network interface device to be connected to a network, and an MAC address management apparatus for assigning an MAC address serving as an identification number unique to the network interface device,
the MAC address management apparatus having MAC address storage means for storing an MAC address file storing a plurality of MAC addresses, external storage means for storing a temporary MAC address file in an external storage device connected to the MAC address management apparatus, transmission means for reading out one MAC address from the MAC address file and transmitting the MAC address to the network interface device in assigning an MAC address to the network interface device, reception means for receiving an MAC address write completion notification from the network interface device, rewrite means for controlling to rewrite, in the temporary MAC address file of the external storage device, MAC addresses of the MAC address file except for the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device upon reception of the MAC address write completion notification, and delete means for deleting the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device from the MAC address file, and
the network interface device having MAC address reception means for receiving the assigned MAC address from the MAC address management apparatus, write/storage means for writing and storing the MAC address, and write completion notification transmission means for transmitting the MAC address write completion notification upon completion of a write of the MAC address.
To achieve the above object, an MAC address management method defined in claim 7 and applied to an MAC address management apparatus having storage means for storing an MAC address file storing a plurality of MAC addresses and a temporary MAC address file, comprises the transmission step of controlling to read out one MAC address from the MAC address file and transmit the MAC address to a network interface device in assigning an MAC address to the network interface device to be connected to a network, the reception step of controlling to receive an MAC address write completion notification from the network interface device, the rewrite step of controlling to rewrite, in the temporary MAC address file, MAC addresses of the MAC address file except for the MAC address controlled to be transmitted to the network interface device, and the delete step of controlling to delete the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device from the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, the MAC address management method defined in claim 8 is the MAC address management method defined in claim 7, and further comprises the copy step of controlling to copy data stored in the temporary MAC address file to the MAC address file when an abnormality is determined to occur in the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, an MAC address management method defined in claim 9 and applied to an MAC address management apparatus having storage means for storing an MAC address file storing a plurality of MAC addresses, comprises the transmission step of controlling to read out one MAC address from the MAC address file and transmit the MAC address to a network interface device in assigning an MAC address to the network interface device to be connected to a network, the reception step of controlling to receive an MAC address write completion notification from the network interface device, the rewrite step of controlling to rewrite MAC addresses of the MAC address file except for the MAC address controlled to be transmitted to the network interface device, in a temporary MAC address file stored in an external storage device connected to the MAC address management apparatus, and the delete step of controlling to delete the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device from the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, the MAC address management method defined in claim 10 is the MAC address management method defined in claim 9, and further comprises the copy step of copying data stored in the temporary MAC address file of the external storage device to the MAC address file when an abnormality is determined to occur in the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, a computer-readable storage medium defined in claim 11 which stores an MAC address management program for controlling an MAC address management apparatus having storage means for storing an MAC address file storing a plurality of MAC addresses and a temporary MAC address file, comprises codes of the transmission step of controlling to read out one MAC address from the MAC address file and transmit the MAC address to a network interface device in assigning an MAC address to the network interface device to be connected to a network, the reception step of controlling to receive an MAC address write completion notification from the network interface device, the rewrite step of controlling to rewrite, in the temporary MAC address file, MAC addresses of the MAC address file except for the MAC address controlled to be transmitted to the network interface device, and the delete step of controlling to delete the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device from the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, the storage medium defined in claim 12 is the storage medium defined in claim 11, and further comprises a code of the copy step of controlling to copy data stored in the temporary MAC address file to the MAC address file when an abnormality is determined to occur in the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, a computer-readable storage medium defined in claim 13 which stores an MAC address management program for controlling an MAC address management apparatus having storage means for storing an MAC address file storing a plurality of MAC addresses, comprises codes of the transmission step of controlling to read out one MAC address from the MAC address file and transmit the MAC address to a network interface device in assigning an MAC address to the network interface device to be connected to a network, the reception step of controlling to receive an MAC address write completion notification from the network interface device, the rewrite step of controlling to rewrite MAC addresses of the MAC address file except for the MAC address controlled to be transmitted to the network interface device, in a temporary MAC address file stored in an external storage device connected to the MAC address management apparatus, and the delete step of controlling to delete the MAC address transmitted to the network interface device from the MAC address file.
To achieve the above object, the storage medium defined in claim 14 is the storage medium defined in claim 13, and further comprises a code of the copy step of copying data stored in the temporary MAC address file of the external storage device to the MAC address file when an abnormality is determined to occur in the MAC address file.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.